Colorado’s one-party rulers gave us soaring crime rates and a drug epidemic that kills at a higher rate than COVID. So, it comes as no surprise to see another Boulder Democrat trying to eliminate a significant disincentive to substance abuse while flouting state and federal law.

State Rep. Edie Hooton introduced House Bill 1152, which “prohibits an employer from taking adverse action against an employee, including an applicant for employment, who engages in the use of: Medical marijuana on the premises of the employer during working hours; or retail or medical marijuana off the premises of the employer during nonworking hours.”

Protecting stoned employees poses obvious problems. Some individuals seem barely affected by THC, while others become goofy, paranoid, confused, lazy and listless. The law would give us more underperforming judges, lawyers, teachers, welders, accountants, mechanics, hairdressers, cooks, etc.

Colorado’s district courts, the state Court of Appeals and the state Supreme Court consistently have upheld Colorado’s long-standing “employment at will” doctrine.

As explained by the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment, “neither an employer nor an employee is required to give a reason for the separation from employment.”

A few reasonable exceptions protect employees fired for discrimination based on race, sex, pregnancy, marital status, national origin, religion or jury service.

In most cases, an employer may fire anyone for no stated reason. Likewise, an employee may quit with no explanation. Sometimes couples break up, and employee-employer relationships are no different. If it works out, great. If it does not, either fix it or separate and find a better arrangement.

The Colorado Constitution creates an affirmative defense against criminal prosecution for the use or distribution of THC. That does not mean employers have an obligation to hire or keep employees who use pot on the job, off the job or for medical reasons.

In Coats v. Dish TV, the Colorado Court of Appeals concluded state law did not protect a paraplegic employee fired for testing marijuana-positive. Brandon Coats was, by some accounts, an exemplary employee. He had a medical license for marijuana and was chosen for a random drug test. He failed, and Dish showed him the door.

In apparent conflict with rulings upholding at-will employment, state statute 24-34-402.5 forbids employers from terminating “any employee due to that employee’s engaging in any lawful activity off the premises of the employer during nonworking hours.”

Coats argued his use of medical marijuana was “lawful” and therefore protected by the state statute and constitutional decriminalization. The courts disagreed.

The state Court of Appeals ruled that section 24-34-402.5 means activities governed by state and federal law must “be permitted by, and not contrary to, both state and federal law.”

Federal law does not permit medical marijuana, and the state Supreme Court concurred. That will remain the case regardless of the get-stoned-at-work bill’s failure or success.

Hooton’s bill represents another example of one party with unlimited power flouting the law with contempt for an at-will employment tradition that has long made Colorado an attractive place to create good jobs. It proposes more chaos, lawlessness and an excuse to get stoned – even on the job.

Colorado Springs Gazette editorial board